Speed skater I final - Started off like a lion, finished like a mouse!

With this one, I tried to separate colors instead of blending them too much. I also tried to play intense colors against attenuated ones (leaving them adjacent to each other)...

This was also an attempt to do textures on a loose piece of canvas temporarily fixed with duct tape on a board. I mixed modeling paste with heavy gel 50/50 to make textures more flexible and prevent crackling during storage (I roll my canvases). There was not too much buckling... it will be interesting to see how it stretches.

Although this painting is interesting to look at, I don't think I will perpetuate this model. I'm in the mood to experiment these days, but in the end, I want to produce decent images I can live with. For some reason, with this subject matter, going half way between a super loose rendition and pure realism just doesn't cut it for me: it should be either one or the other! More importantly, I also find that large masses of nuanced colors are more powerful than "a dab of this and a dab of that"!

For my next painting, I'm lining up this Yoga pose... having lost my "pompous ass" attitude, and evidently using a fail-safe approach to mark my return to the series!

Note to self: " If I want to do expressionism, I should start like a lion and finish like a lion! In that line of thinking, the spirit of the 3rd pass was better (unfinished and full of bright colors!). I realize I don't like attenuated (grayed) colors any more!"

Speed skater I - close to final - The quest for freedom... is still on!

With this 4th pass, I have attenuated the colors in an attempt to make the skater look somewhat more natural...

I overshot, and now I need to dial in some more intense colors, and reintroduce higher contrasts and highlights here and there!

Note to self: "I need to delve deeper into gestural painting... and not be afraid to go all the way!"

Speed skater I - step III - Sticking with the program!

I'm still proceeding one calculated move after another...

... trying not to fiddle around too much with the paint once it's spread out. I don't know what will be the outcome... but it certainly feels right... the exercise is liberating!

Note to self: "Freedom is tough to assume..."

Speed skater I - step II... going at it one brush stroke at a time!

I'm back to a more relaxed approach to painting. So far, after initiating this one, I've been blue in the face only a few minutes from lack of breathing... usually, I can't breathe and paint!

I think the kid in me is back!

I'm proceeding with both the palette knife and the brush, leaving brush marks for last...

Note: I couldn't resist those amazonian Japanese skaters!

Speed skater I - step I... A change of pace!

My last failure was a sign that I was running out of gas with the Yoga series. I decided to create a diversion by initiating this series on Olympic speed skaters using a 30 X 30 piece of loose canvas...

... an opportunity to go crazy on colors and techniques! With regard to the Yoga series, I think there might still be 5 more paintings in me, which I plan to complete fairly soon. Hopefully this sport series will help me break away from my repetitive patterns of late...

Note to self: "I seem to be progressing in spurts, getting bored after 5 paintings of any kind by the repetitiveness in colors schemes and techniques. Sticking to what I have achieved technically and improving my craftsmanship (clean colors, deliberate brush strokes, etc...) would be a reasonable short term objective though."

Yoga pose XI finale... A salvaging exercise: thank God for Chinese calligraphy!

I tried to correct proportions but remained unsatisfied (didn't get the look I wanted and also tried to fit in a narrow design within a 24 X 30 frame, big mistake!). No amount of efforts could save this painting...

... short of cropping it to save the day!

Evidently, this goes with the territory.With regard to technique, I'm left on my appetite as I've started to repeat myself lately! For the next 5 paintings, I would like to separate colors (at least different tones and hues) in the rendering of the figures as opposed to blending them to death. This is likely to be difficult for me but I've done it before!

Note to self: "I think it's time to follow my instincts and forget about wanting this or that!"

Yoga pose XI - step III... Sort of experimenting...

This one got out of control a bit, so I'm taking the opportunity to try different approaches (glazes, scumbling, etc.). I still need to tweak a number of picture elements and find a way to fill up part of the empty space behind the figure...

Part of the problem is that I'm running out of poses that I can easily fit in the series. Luckily, the Yoga instructor that I used as a model offered me to take more pictures of her, which I did last night...

Merci Geneviève! I'd really like to get to 20 paintings that I can live with, so you've just increased my chances of getting there big time!

Note to self: "Considering the last 5 paintings, I've used much more transparency than I anticipated. They are perceptively quite different when compared to the first lot, yet they seem to belong as part of a continuum. When tackling smaller formats, I realize that maintaining a painterly approach is a challenge. It's like going from lunge punches to rabbit punches in martial arts terms!"